Gary Kleppe wrote:
All C&C welcomed and appreciated, public preferred. Find my
other schtuff at: <http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics.html>.
FOR A DYING FRIEND
Excellent fic, Gary. I have to say to say that, out of all the "Ranma
Stuck as a Girl" fics that I've read, this seems to stay the most true
to Takahashi's characters. Not to disparage other such fics, most of
which are well-written in their own right, but it's nice to see a
treatment of the subject that depicts a Ranma almost straight from the
pages of the manga -- one who refuses to relinquish his masculinity in
the face of his curse, and refuses to ever give up looking for a cure,
ever. That's the kind of tenacity and stubborness I'd expect from
Ranma. And as for Akane...
(fic spoilers below)
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When Akane went to Ucchan's, I almost smacked my forehead and yelled "Of
course!" (I didn't, because I'm at work. ^_^;) In the spirit of the
manga, this would be the most obvious temporary solution.
Also, I appreciated your characterization of Akane. I agree with you in
that I don't think Akane would abandon Ranma simply because his curse
stuck. In Takahashi's universe, where magic is very real, the
possibility of a cure would always be there, and I think that if Akane
was willing to run away with Ranma when he had the weaknes moxibustion,
she would stick with him to the end to find a cure, even if one never
materialized -- especially with the way things stood between them at the
end of the manga.
Oh, and Akane's response to Nodoka's suggestion was perfect, and
priceless. ^_^
I also appreciated how you handled the situation with Ryouga. *sniff*
;_;
One *minor* nitpick: While I believe that all your characterizations
are so spot-on that Takahashi could have written them herself, and while
I'm aware of your justifiable conviction that girl-type Ranma has black
hair... *brown* eyes? Come on, can't you just leave Ranma with blue
eyes? There are blue-eyed, black-haired Japanese, you know. They are
rare, but they exist. Either that, or you could just not mention the
color of his eyes at all. I know, it's probably just me, but I found it
a bit jarring. ^_^;
Anyway, that's it! Again, great fic. Looking forward to more from you,
as always.
-Krista